Container for conveyors

ABSTRACT

A container comprising front and rear panels interconnected along the peripheral edges by a resilient wall, covered by flexible sheet material having marginal flaps secured to the edges of the panels.

United States Patent Schneider 14 1 Jan. 18, 1972 [54] CONTAINER FOR CQNVEYORS 3,266,705 8/1966 Wood ..229/14 C I 3,344,973 10/1967 Studen ..229/14 C X Inventor: Erkh schnelder, wlesenstels, Germany 3,420,363 1/1969 Blickensdlerfer ..229/14 0 x [73] Assignee: Organisation Ralis K.G., Wiesensteig FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS (Worm), Germany 431,415 7/1935 Great Britain ..206/62 R [22] 1970 922,397 4/1963 Great Britain ..206/14 c [21] Appl. No.: 59,148

Primary Examiner-Davis T. Moorhead Attorney-Richard Low and Murray Schaffer [30] Foreign Application Priority Data Aug. 1, 1969 Germany ..G 69 30 458.1 [571 ABSTRACT A container comprising front and rear panels interconnected [52] US. Cl ..229/14 C, 206/62, 206/46 FC akmg the peripheral edges by a resilient n covered by flexi [51] Int. Cl. B6511 85/30, 365d 5/62 ble Sheet material having marginal flaps Secured to the edges [58] Field of Search ..229/23 B, 14 H, 14 C; ofthe pane1s 8 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,601,547 9/1926 Wofford ..229/14 C UK MENU-i0 MM 1 8 m2 JWVENTOR. RIQH SCHNEIDER CONTAINER FOR convsvons BACKGROUND OF INVENTION The present invention relates to containers for use in conveyor systems and particularly to a deformable receptacle for use in double-band conveyors.

Double-band conveyor systems are commonly employed to carry relatively lightweight material from place. to place as, for example, in offices, libraries, schools, hospitals, research institutions, etc., where numerous documents must be continuously moved from floor to floor. In our copending application Ser. Nos. 17,242 and 17,476 filed. respectively; onM'ar. 6, 1970 and Mar. 9, 1970, there is fully described such a system. Briefly such a system, the articles to be conveyed areheldin a container, squeezed or clamped between the horizontal and vertical runs of a pairof parallel conveyor bands which are synchronously driven. Theconveyor bands are pressed against each other by a series of opposed rollers to prevent thecontainer from fallingout, or being displaced relative thereto. A predetermined degree of pressure is obtained by the rollers which are spaced along the run of the belt and whichalso act to guide the direction of the movement of the conveyor. Difficulties are encountered, when rigid containers or containers of limited elasticity are used, since such containers cannot give under the pressure of the rollers, and tend to distort, break or bend causing damage to the contents therein. Such a problem arises, for example in the transport in hospitals'of'X- ray film which, while flexible, is particularly sensitive and fragile and cannot be bent beyond its flexible. limit, folded. or broken. An additional problem occurs when the containeris required to turn a tight corner or one of small radius'of'curvature.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved container for usein double-banded conveyor systems.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a resilient and elastic receptacle forum in double-banded conveyor systems.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a container'capable of holding sensitive and fragile articles.

It is still another objectof the present invention to provide an improved double-banded conveyor system of the type described.

These and other objects as well asnumerous advantages of the present invention will be seen from the following disclosure.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION According to the present invention-a container is provided comprising. front and rear panels interconnected on three sides, along their peripheral edges, by sidewall members made of formed resilientmateriali The resilient material is covered another form the wall is covered by the sheet material on both sides which form a pocket therefore.

The container can be made without a lid or cover but is preferably formed with one. In this case the lid is formed similarly as any of the other walls, with a resilient body and sheet covering; the sheet material however being secured only along one edge to a front or back panel to form a suitable hinge therefore.

Full details of the present inventionare presentedat length herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING In the following description reference is made to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. I is a perspective view of a container made in ac"- cordance with the prasent'invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical section through the container of FIG. I, and.

FIG. 3 is a horizontal. section through one sidewall of'the container of FIG. 1.

Turning now to the drawing there is shown acontainer, suitable for such purposesas receiving. and holding. a flexible but unbendable X-ray.film F or the like. The container comprises a front panel 11 and a rear panel 12 both'of rectangular configuration. Thepanels 11 and 12 are arranged in parallel planes with each other'and are interconnectedby arectangular box like framemade of resilient sidewall members 13. The top wall of the receptacle is formedas a cover member, having a skirt 15 which is hinged to provide an opening 16 into the interior of the container; The front and rear panelsare connected to the resilient sidewalls forming the side-bottom, and top wallsby a flexible sheet covering 18 in the form of a strip or' ribbon, preferably of fabric attached to either the front end or rear surfaces of the panels as hereafter described.

The front and rear panels 1 1 and 12 are formed of pliable but unbendable material, such as composition paper, heavy craft paperor flexiblesheet plastic, while: the wall members 13 are preferably made of unitary rectangular blocks, bands or sheets of soft foam rubber, or plastic which is elastic and yieldable'. under compression, twisting and shear stress. The term fabric when appliedto the flexible. cover l8 is intended to encompass, by definition, strips, ribbons or bands of woven or knitted textiles of natural or synthetic fibers or monofilamentary thread' or 'yam; or molded or cast sheets of synthetic material such as plastic. The cover'l8is required to be flexible butneed not be elastic.

In one form, as seen in FIGS. 11 and3, the sidewalls forming the vertical sidesand the 'bottom of the container are covered only on theiroutersurfacesby. the flexible sheets or strips 18 which have marginal flaps'thatextendbeyond the edges of the respective wallportion. The. extending flaps are permanently adhered to the outer: surfaces of the. contiguous edges of the front and rearpanels l'l -and'l2i Synthetic glues such as epoxyresins or animal glues, etc., are suitable for this purpose. Preferably. the'flexible stripsare also glued to the surfaces of the wallsrl3 as well as to the. edges of the panels 11 and 12. The flexiblesheetstrips may besecured by other meanssuch as stitching, staplingorheatsealing depending on the materials used.

In a second form, seen in FIG. 2; .theinterior surface of the respective vertical-sideand bottom walls are also covered with the flexible fabric material. In this case, the resilient sidewalls are. pocketed within the flexible strips so that completely coversandsurrounds-the.surlfaces of the wall portion. The fabric cover forms a lining on the interior surfaces which is protective of therelastic material of the wall member andalso of thecontentsiinsertedin' the container. As seen in FIG. 2' 'the inner flexible strips also havemarginal flaps which maybe with securedto the flaps of the outer overstrips, before thetwoare'jointlysecured'to the edges of the front and rear panel, or they may-be securedl to thepanels edges separately and on theinner'face ofthe panel:

In either of. the. two forms shown, the fabric cover strips extendthe lengthor breadth ofthe panels edges and are adhered securelyto the edges of both the panel and the associated sidewall.- mernliers..'llius, the: flexible stripsand the elastic sidewalls cooperaterto provide a resilient flexible hinge connectionbetween thesidewalls andrthefront and rear panels.

The sheet foam, resilient. and sponge: material is capable of maintaining the container normally: extended (i.e., open) to' receive and holdlthe contents-securely without crushing, but

mannerto that ofthesideand bottomwalls shown inFlG. 2,.

in that=the;elastic top wallmember I'SEis covered onbothsides or pocketed? between strips of flexible. fabric l8; The fabric here however, hasitrr extending marginal flaps secured to the rear panel 12 only which as seen in FlGS.,1 and 2 permits the assembly to hingedly swing into closed and open position. Preferably, the marginal flaps extending from the rear are secured separately to both the front and back surfaces of the rear panel 12 to provide a strengthened hinge. The front marginal flaps used to cover-the top wall are secured to the skirt member 15 which is designed to fall flat against the front panel 11. The skirt l5 and the front panel 11 are provided with cooperating adhesive strips 19, or other closing means which are adapted to maintain the skirt closed during use as seen in FIG. 2. If desired the skirt 15 may be omittedand the marginal edges of the textile strips extended and enlarged so as to act as a covering flap member. I

It will then be obvious, that the present construction has the decided advantage of being readily compressible, stretchable and resilient in all directions, so that it is unimportant in which direction the container is held between the belts of the conveyor band. The container will yield elastically in all directions and the pressing of the container between the rollers of the conveyors, will not cause either the receptacle or its contents to damaged or bent. Elasticity is limited by the textile material, and the compressibility and stretch characteristics of the wall material. Consequently the container can not be permanently compressed or bent. Even a folded X-ray film seen in FIG. 2 can be transported without damage.

Various changes and modifications can be made to the structure and form without departing from the concept of the present invention. Numerous variations have already been described, others will be obvious to those skilled in this art. It is therefore intended that the present disclosure be illustrative only and not limiting of the scope of the invention at all.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A container for a conveyor system comprising front and rear panels and at least three associated sidewalls interconnecting the same about their peripheral edges, said sidewalls being formed of resilient material and a strip of flexible sheet material covering the outer face thereof, said sheet material having marginal flaps secured along the peripheral edges of the outer faces of the associated panels to form a deformable rectangular receptacle.

2. The container according to claim 1 wherein said marginal flaps extend along the entire periphery of the panels and the comers thereof.

3. The container according the claim 2 including a second strip of flexible sheet material covering the inner face of said walls, said second strip having marginal flaps secured to said contiguous peripheral edges of said panels.

4. The container according to claim 3 wherein the marginal flaps of said sheet strips on the outer and inner faces of said walls are secured together to font] a pocket for said wall.

the marginal flaps along the remaining edge being respectively 7 secured to the front and'back to form a hinge therewith.

7. The container according to claim 1 wherein said panels are of limited flexible'sheet material is of limited elasticity.

8. The container according to claim 1 wherein said flexible sheet is formed of fabric material.

' a e a: a a:

an-In 

1. A container for a conveyor system comprising front and rear panels and at least three associated sidewalls interconnecting the same about their peripheral edges, said sidewalls being formed of resilient material and a strip of flexible sheet material covering the outer face thereof, said sheet material having marginal flaps secured along the peripheral edges of the outer faces of the associated panels to form a deformable rectangular receptacle.
 2. The container according to claim 1 wherein said marginal flaps extend along the entire periphery of the panels and the corners thereof.
 3. The container according the claim 2 including a second strip of flexible sheet material covering the inner face of said walls, said second strip having marginal flaps secured to said contiguous peripheral edges of said panels.
 4. The container according to claim 3 wherein the marginal flaps of said sheet strips on the outer and inner faces of said walls are secureD together to form a pocket for said wall.
 5. The container according to claim 1 including a fourth sidewall having the marginal flaps of only one edge secured to one of said panels to provide a cover member for said receptacle.
 6. The container according to claim 5 wherein said cover member comprises a rectangular wall of resilient material covered on each of its faces with a strip of flexible sheet material, the marginal flaps along three of the peripheral edges being secured together to enclose said wall in a pocket, the marginal flaps along the remaining edge being respectively secured to the front and back to form a hinge therewith.
 7. The container according to claim 1 wherein said panels are of limited flexible sheet material is of limited elasticity.
 8. The container according to claim 1 wherein said flexible sheet is formed of fabric material. 